Growing up as a massive Queen fan, Taylor Hawkins’ childhood dreams came true when he eventually became good friends with drummer Roger Taylor. But another, unexpected, friendship emerged when Hawkins met Roger’s son Rufus.

The two grew to become extremely close, with both Rufus and Hawkins often referring to each other as “brothers,” and Rufus admitting in multiple interviews that he saw Hawkins as a massive influence on his own drumming.

“[He was] my hero, my mentor, my big brother,” Rufus told MusicRadar in a 2023 interview, one year after Hawkins’ death. “I think I was six years old when I first met him. My dad introduced me to him as his close mate. I was instantly just in love with the guy, I just thought he was the coolest person I’d ever met. He was always really sweet to me. We just kind of clicked together immediately, and the more I grew up, it was just strange how similar we were — a lot because I idolized him and everything — but we ended up like twins, in the end.”

Speaking about Rufus in a 2021 interview with Rhythm, Hawkins said: “Rufus has always been like my little brother… And I’m so proud that I’ve been able to play a part in his musical journey.”

When Hawkins passed away in 2022, Rufus was one of many musicians asked to perform at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts in both London and Los Angeles. After the two shows – during which Rufus sat in with Foo Fighters for the songs “These Days” and “Best of You” – fans took to social media to praise Rufus’ performances, with many saying they think he would be the perfect person to replace Hawkins.

While Foo Fighters did eventually hire Josh Freese as their new drummer, in a new interview with Classic Rock, Rufus revealed that Dave Grohl and co. did actually consider him for the role.

“Yeah,” he said, confirming the rumors that his name was in the mix as a possible replacement. “It’s a weird thing. Taylor used to joke about it with me a lot: ‘It’s time, you need to take over from me now.’ But I think it would have been too close. I look like him – a lot like him – so it would have been weird for Dave [Grohl] and the band to turn around and see that.”

Rufus, who has been drumming with the band The Darkness since 2015, says even his bandmates Justin Hawkins and Dan Hawkins (who claim to be distant cousins with Taylor Hawkins) encouraged him to take the gig if it was offered to him. But Rufus insists that he’s committed to The Darkness.

“They both sat me down at one point and said, ‘When Dave asks you, we think you should do it.’ I was like, ‘What?’ I was blown away by that. But I would have never done it,” he said.